Day 1 of Christopher Fitzgerald's trial for allegedly pointing a gun at two undercover detectives was a tale of the tape, as lawyers and witnesses scrutinized every second of a bystander video that showed Fitzgerald's arrest.

The video, first posted on The Morning Call website, captured the final confrontation between the 23-year-old son of Allentown's police chief and the two Lehigh County detectives who say he threatened their lives on a Whitehall Township road.

The cellphone video was played and replayed more than a dozen times as Fitzgerald's attorney, Jack McMahon, quizzed witnesses about Fitzgerald's demeanor.

One witness, Whitehall police officer Raymond Seiling, told the jury that he recalled Fitzgerald being so combative that a detective had to push him to the ground so Seiling could handcuff him.

But the video showed Fitzgerald lying down on his own, before any officers approached him.

Throughout a profanity-laced exchange between Fitzgerald and Detectives Christopher Cruz and Todd Frey on the video, Fitzgerald is heard yelling over and over: "I don't know who you are."

The son of former Allentown police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, acquitted of pointing a gun at Lehigh County detectives in a 2014 road-rage incident, claims racial profiling and political retribution played roles in his arrest and subsequent trial.

The son of former Allentown police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, acquitted of pointing a gun at Lehigh County detectives in a 2014 road-rage incident, claims racial profiling and political retribution played roles in his arrest and subsequent trial.

In his opening statement to the jury, McMahon said that's the crux of the case — Fitzgerald, who was a Lehigh County Jail guard and had a license to carry a concealed weapon, pulled out his gun and showed it to the two men because he was frightened for his family's safety. His girlfriend and baby son were in the car.

"He has the gun for just this situation," McMahon told jurors in the packed Lehigh County courtroom. "Yes, he wants them to see the gun. That's what it's for. To put an end to that situation."

First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa told the jury that Fitzgerald "misperceived and misjudged" the situation, but committed a crime by threatening the men with a gun.

Christopher Fitzgerald and his attorneys enter the courtroom for a hearing. Fitzgerald, the son of Allentown's police chief, is accused of pointing a gun at two undercover detectives.

(Emily Paine)

Fitzgerald, of Philadelphia, is charged with simple assault and reckless endangerment. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than two years in a state prison.

Frey was the prosecution's first witnesses. He told the jury that he and Cruz were on their way to meet with an informant around 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29 and were behind Fitzgerald's car on Seventh Street in Allentown when Fitzgerald began to tap his brakes.

Frey, who was in the passenger seat, said Fitzgerald's car then "brake-checked hard" in the left lane as they entered Whitehall and Seventh Street became MacArthur Road, forcing them to stop.

Fitzgerald's car then "whipped" into the right lane and stopped, Frey testified.

The detective said he and Cruz decided to show the driver their badges. They could not pass the car and keep going, he told the jury, because they had a responsibility to check out why the man was driving erratically.

"At that point, we have to do something. If he's drunk or if there's a domestic, we have to take action," Frey said.

Cruz pulled the car alongside Fitzgerald's, Frey said, but he never got a chance to identify himself as a police officer.

Demonstrating by standing up in the jury box and twisting his body, Frey described Fitzgerald opening his car door and turning toward him. Fitzgerald had a black gun in his hand, Frey recalled, held at waist level and pointed toward the officers.

Frey said Cruz put the car in reverse, and called 911. Since they were on an undercover assignment, their police radios were in the trunk.

The 911 tape also was played for the jury. Cruz could be heard shouting for backup and complaining that they were taking too long to get there, asking "Where they at?" over and over.

Frey said he and Cruz followed Fitzgerald's car into a parking lot outside the Lehigh Valley Mall, and that Fitzgerald did a U-turn so that his car was facing theirs. Backup officers from Whitehall arrived at that point.

In a scene that was captured on video, Frey and Cruz were joined by uniformed police officers. Together, they walked toward Fitzgerald's car, guns drawn and barking orders.

To find Fitzgerald guilty, the jury must unanimously agree that he intentionally or recklessly attempted to put the detectives in fear of imminent serious injury.

During his opening remarks, McMahon told jurors of how Fitzgerald followed in his parent's footsteps in police work, first in Texas and then when his father became chief in Allentown.

"He embraced the law enforcement community," McMahon said. "He was following in the family tradition. He is not some thug, not some bum. He is a man of character, a man of integrity, a man of honesty."

McMahon said people have traveled from as far away as Texas to attend the trial and show his client's family support. Fitzgerald will take the stand, the lawyer said.

Judge Kelly L. Banach is presiding over the case, which has drawn a large crowd, including a number of county detectives and Fitzgerald's family. Several uniformed Allentown police officers came into the courtroom during the trial and shook the chief's hand.

When the jury left the courtroom for a break, Banach chided the chief about his visitors.